Best x264 settings for SD?

[kkiller23]

Here is a sample video
http://www.sendspace.com/file/j0nn87

Here is encode settings and mediainfo

http://pastebin.com/heZ6LKHz


I know this has been asked a lot, but what could i change to make the video look a little better? I know it look's good for being a 1.56gb file with ac3 audio. I just seem to think i could get it to look better, i used Spline64Resize btw in case that matters.


Any pointers would be great, i'm still pretty new to all this and learning.

Here are the exact settings i'm using.

http://i48.tinypic.com/rku4r6.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/ilww3c.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/2uorxih.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/nq71as.jpg

[jagabo]

Leave it at its original resolution and use SAR flags.

[kkiller23]

The original source is a bluray so i can't keep it the original resolution and i might sound dumb, but what are SAR flags?

[kkiller23]

--level 4.1 --preset veryslow --pass 2 --bitrate 2111 --stats ".stats" --deblock 1:1 --bframes 3 --b-pyramid strict --ref 5 --rc-lookahead 120 --merange 16 --subme 9 --psy-rd 1.0:0.02 --output "output" "input"

Is that good for SD ? I looked at it to my original and it looked brighter with more detail.

[jagabo]

Which was brighter and had more detail?

[frmys]

what is the name of this Gui for x264?

[kkiller23]

Which was brighter and had more detail?

The command i posted with that post, by original i meant it looked better then the encode that i gave a sample of, not the bluray :P. It just looked little better to me, should i maybe try doing a 10bit encode?

10bit won't work in pretty much everything, correct? Only on pc?

[poisondeathray]

what is the name of this Gui for x264?

megui

[poisondeathray]

--level 4.1 --preset veryslow --pass 2 --bitrate 2111 --stats ".stats" --deblock 1:1 --bframes 3 --b-pyramid strict --ref 5 --rc-lookahead 120 --merange 16 --subme 9 --psy-rd 1.0:0.02 --output "output" "input"

Is that good for SD ? I looked at it to my original and it looked brighter with more detail.

There should be no difference in "brightness" . Either you're doing something wrong or not comparing them correctly (more likely)

[kkiller23]

It's so hard to compare them by same frame as media player classic doesn't go to the same frame even when you type the same frame. So i really don't know how to see the exact same frame on both. I was just going by watching them side by side.

[jagabo]

You can't compare two videos using two media players side-by-side. One may get access to the graphic's card's hardware (with different brightness, contrast, colors, filters, etc.), the other not . Try looking at the same video file in two players -- you'll see differences there too.

I usually use an AviSynth script to open each video and stack them side by side or interleave them. Then use VirtualDub to view the script.

v1=WhateverSource("filename1.ext")
v2=WhateverSource("filename2.ext")
StackHorizontal(v1,v2)

v1=WhateverSource("filename1.ext")
v2=WhateverSource("filename2.ext")
Interleave(v1,v2)

Another good script stacks the two videos side-by-side and also displays the differences between them and the differences amplified:

# If Videos start at different frames use frameadjust to align them
frameadjust=0
name1="video1.avi"
name2="video2.avi"

v1 = AviSource(name1)
v2 = AviSource(name2).trim(frameadjust,0)
sub = v1.subtract(v2) 
substrong = sub.levels(112,1,144,0,255) 

StackVertical(StackHorizontal(v1.subtitle(name1),v2.subtitle(name2)),StackHorizontal(sub.subtitle("Difference"),substrong.subtitle("Difference amplified 8x")))

If you can't use AviSynth use VirtualDub to view each file directly. Be sure to disable DirectX output to make sure the program doesn't use the graphics card's hardware.

[kkiller23]

v1=WhateverSource("filename1.ext")
v2=WhateverSource("filename2.ext")
StackHorizontal(v1,v2)

What would i put after "v1" and "v2"
I'm a little confused and i keep getting errors and i don't know a lot about avisynth that's why i'm using megui :P

[jagabo]

What would i put after "v1" and "v2"

I'm not sure what you're asking. By "WhateverSource" I mean use whatever source filter is required to open your source video. AviSource, ffVideoSource, DirectshowSource, Mpeg2Source, etc.

Your sample.mkv can be opened with ffVideoSource("sample.mkv"). Use ffmpegsource from here:
http://code.google.com/p/ffmpegsource/downloads/detail?name=ffms2-r683.7z&can=2&q=

Put FFMS2.AVSI and FFMS2.DLL in your AviSynth plugins folder.

[kkiller23]

I thought it'd be ffVideoSource, but when ever i try to open it in vdub it tells me there is no function named ffVideoSource. ffVideoSource is the same filter megui uses, atleast that's the one it shows in the avs script that it creates.

[jagabo]

I updated my previous post with additional information that should help you.

[kkiller23]

That allows me to open the avs now, but i get "couldn't locate decompressor for format YV12 etc etc"

and when i hit ok it does nothing so i see nothing.

[poisondeathray]

post your script

what are you using to hit "ok"? what program are you referring to ?

you can also use avspmod . You can view scripts in different tabs and use the number keys to quickly switch can compare frames

[kkiller23]

v1=ffVideoSource("C:\Users\*****\Desktop\x264test\ crf.mkv")
v2=ffVideoSource("C:\Users\*****\Desktop\x264test\ 2pass.mkv")
StackHorizontal(v1,v2)

Is the script that he told me to try.

[poisondeathray]

are you using vdub to view the .avs ?

I'm not sure why you're getting that message

do you have 32bit avisynth, 32bit ffms2 ?

[kkiller23]

Yeah, i was using vdubmod. It work's in that program you told me to try though.

[poisondeathray]

so it works in avspmod, but not vdubmod ???? That's unexpected

The reason why you shouldn't be getting that message is ffms2 is pretty much self contained (it has all the decoders within the .dll)

[kkiller23]

Would there be a way for me to take two screen shots of both files using avspmod instead of big screenshot of both?

Never mind

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/137480

It's hard to see any real difference between the two besides the fact the cfr file is smaller.

[poisondeathray]

use different tabs (individual scripts of each video in each, not the script you used above) you can take screenshots with avspmod (video=>save image as)

using different tabs is a good way to see the effect of filters as well, you can have different versions of scripts and filters and swap back & forth easily with the number keys

[poisondeathray]

Also, any reason why you chose exactly 2111kbps ?

And why are you resizing to SD ?

[kkiller23]

So i could get a filesize of 1.56gb with the ac3 audio that's why i picked 2111 as a bitrate.

[poisondeathray]

Why do you need 1.56GB filesize ?

[kkiller23]

So it'll fit on my flash drive

[poisondeathray]

Good enough reason

Why SD ? Is this for some device ?

[poisondeathray]

It's hard to see any real difference between the two besides the fact the cfr file is smaller.

It's not a valid comparison when you compare different bitrate videos

If you are comparing CRF , you would have to do repeat fractional encodes (e.g. CRF 22.1, 22.2, etc...) until the bitrate was exactly the same as the 2pass video (plus all the other settings identical of course)

As this is teduous - practically speaking, it's usually done the other way around - you encode at a certain CRF value, then use that bitrate to compare a 2pass encode

This is pretty much useless because it's been done a zillion times - the established fact is that it's almost identical (not quite, the distribution is very slightly different)

[kkiller23]

I just thought that file size was to small for HD and there wouldn't be enough bits per pixel to look good.

Also, with crf lower is better? Then i guess i won't be getting it looking much better then the original sample i uploaded?
I'll just stick with two pass encodes atleast i'll know the filesize then haha